Does AT&T not know who to pay off?

When at&t was a (government approved and established) monopoly the FCC and organizations like Consumer Reports et al really hated at&t, perhaps for good reason as far as I know, but they've never really gotten past their old bitterness and are still hammering at&t less for what is happening today and more for what happened 30 and more years ago.....basically they are just used to thinking of at&t as the devil incarnate and they are determined to stick to that view regardless of what the facts might actually be...

And I do feel the need to point out, which most people don't bother to, that the old at&t monopoly was a government monopoly, the government GRANTED at&t monopoly status, and established at&t as a monopoly....at&t didn't achieve ...(continues)

As one who has experienced AT&T's egregious policies and scorched earth behavior first hand, I can assure you:

1. AT&T has the best government money can buy2. They HAVE achieved their current oligarchy status by forcing out competitors and putting small inovators and upstarts out of business3. They are masters at "Astroturfing" public opinion

The change in attitude at the FCC is more due to the current Obama administration who is not as (overtly)chummy with at&t in contrast to the previous eight years with Bush, who was their lapdog. Under Bush, at&t got numerous favors, issues buried by Justice Department and even got the Supreme Court to do their bidding.

Of course, true competition in telecom and broadband is neut...(continues)

You do realize, don't you, that changes in the White House don't REALLY have anything to do with the FCC? FCC commissioners are not accountable to the president, nor do they simply do the president's bidding, the FCC is an INDEPENDENT agency, like the Federal Reserve or the Supreme Court, and like the Fed and the Supreme Court, it serves one agenda: it's own. The FCC doesn't change policies just because there's a new president, that's not how it works.

Yes, Obama is passionately anti-business, anti-profit, and anti-private sector, and I have no doubt that Obama would very much like to nationatlize the wireless industry, but in this case, it is more a case of the FCC and Obama having a common ideology, rather than Obama simply telling ...(continues)